Gifted Pelt

Chapter 21

By the time Astrila and Kōri have cleared a path out of the last iglu, her flippers are aching. She manages to shift back somewhat easily, assuming that it is the same process, just summoning up her human form instead of seal form in her mind's eye. Once back on her feet, she stumbles slightly, almost tripping over her pelt. She reaches down to pick it up and shift it back into coat form, hissing as her hands protest against the movement. She is grateful that no one saw it, but then she feels a nudge against her leg looks down to see Kōri looking up at her, still in seal-form. She can see the concern in his eyes and mouths at him.

"I'm fine."

He lets out a huff of air, misting in the arctic weather. He shifts and swings his pelt over his shoulders before pulling Astrila into his side. She lets out a soft shriek of surprise but quickly stifles it. Kōri gently pulls her hands toward him and removes the gloves covering them. Astrila tries to avert her eyes, but Kōri notices.

"Astrila, no."

She sighs and looks down at her hands. They are red and slightly swollen. She can see the beginnings of some bad bruising as well. Kōri lets out a long sigh and reaches down for a handful of snow with his free hand. He gathers it up and dumps it into her hand, causing her to let out a hiss at the sudden burst of cold.

Tonraq approaches them, having noticed what Kōri was doing. "What's going on?"

"Take a look at her hands."

Astrila has to stifle the urge to pull her hands away as Tonraq approaches, having shooed Kōri off as far as he can go to give them privacy. Tonraq is the healer here, he should look at her hands if Kōri thinks they are bad. Tonraq gently pulls her hands away from her stomach, where she has them tucked in, and he looks at the tiny pile of snow covering her skin.

"Can you dump this?"

She nods before tilting her hands over the snow layer, letting the snow fall to the ground. There are a few flakes that stick to her skin, but she doesn't make any move to brush them away. They'll melt onto her skin in a few moments, so why bother? Tonraq tilts her hands over to look at the undersides before spreading her fingers apart. She restrains a hiss at that, but Tonraq looks up at her.

"It hurts?"

Astrila nods. He hums to himself and carefully prods the skin on different parts of her hand. Even in the growing numbness from the snow and the cold weather, the gentle prod causes her to instinctively flinch away from the pain. Tonraq stops at once and inhales through his teeth.

"This is your first time shifting, your seal form is still new, and you aren't used to doing much with that form. You overworked yourself with the digging, and now you've rubbed your flippers raw. That injury transferred to this form." he glances up at her. "You do realize you won't be able to use your hands for a couple of days? And only sparingly after that while you heal?"

Astrila nods again. "Yes, I know."

Something about her tone makes him look up at her, his gaze sharp and analytical. "Were you the apprentice shaman of your last village?"

Her mouth drops open. "How did you figure it out? Did Kōri tell you?"

He gives her a small smile. "No, but you spoke as if you had already analyzed the severity of the injury yourself and were just waiting for a second opinion."

Astrila blushes, grateful that her dark skin hides the evidence of it. "That is what I was doing."

He nods, still smiling. "I thought so. Now, I'm going to guess you were going to ask me, but let me get rid of any nervousness beforehand. Would you like to become my apprentice now?"

Astrila beams. "Do you mean it?"

He laughs. "Why would I extend the offer if I didn't mean it?"

Astrila's delighted beam broadens. "Thank you."

Tonraq waves her off. "Don't thank me. I should be thanking you. I've been trying to find an apprentice for years now, but none of the selkies have been interested. You'll have to be visiting me every day so that I can check your wounds, so you can accompany me around the island to observe and learn."

He returns a handful of snow to Astrila's hands before he pats her on the shoulder and stands. He walks away from her to go see if any of the other selkies need assistance. Kōri comes back over to her with a slightly surprised look on his face as he sees the stunned but delighted expression on Astrila's face.

"What is it?"

Her voice is awed. "Tonraq asked me to become his apprentice!"

Kōri grins. "Congratulations!" He helps her to her feet before pulling her into a hug. "I need to go work on rebuilding the igluvijaq."

Astrila frowns. "I can't help."

Kōri shrugs. "I know, but someone's already taken your place in doing that."

Astrila frowns at him as he leads her toward their buried iglu. "What do you mean?"

Kōri points ahead of them, to the far side of the iglu.
________________________________________________________________________________
What do you think of Astrila becoming Tonraq's apprentice? Who do you think is waiting at their iglu? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.